We begin the academic year 2019/2020 with our inaugural lecture, a call for debate and reflection on the challenges we face as a global society. This year we spoke with the Spanish Government's High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, Cristina Gallach. The interview was conducted by the dean of the UOC's Faculty of Law and Political Science, Raquel Xalabarder, who asked Gallach about the 2030 Agenda's 17 goals and about universities' and citizens' roles in the global transformation taking place.
w.uoc.edu/en/inaugural19
Chapter 4. The role of universities
"This Agenda is an agenda for learning; it's about transmitting this learning, using science and innovation, which are two major instruments for change, and applying it to learning and change processes."
"The biggest lever that makes us feel comfortable when saying the goals will be achieved is innovation and research; and this is work that takes place in universities. Therefore, it's essential for universities to feel that this Agenda is their own; to analyse, study how to participate, to convey it to their research teams, their population, who are mostly young people who yearn for these changes, and to mobilize them. In my opinion, this is true both from the inspirational point of view and also the more specific point of view: it's scientific research that is going to change the world, and universities have to lead."
"We never tire of talking to universities and to their presidents, members of the Spanish Rectors' Conference, who are increasingly coming on board. And I must say that we never tire of seeing, with admiration and satisfaction, how the SDGs are becoming embedded in the fabric of universities: faculty, planning and, above all, students."
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